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Scottsdale thieves want a bigger chunk of your pay check?
Our government masters love to tell us that they are "public servants", but in reality they usually behave like parasites who want to suck every last drop out of our bodies, or I should say parasites who want to suck every last dollar out of our wallets. Scottsdale weighs property-tax increase, pay raises by Beth Duckett - Jan. 14, 2012 10:01 PM The Republic | azcentral.com The Scottsdale City Council recently got its first look at projections in the 2012-13 budget and will decide whether to increase property taxes and give city employees a raise. Unlike last year, Scottsdale is not facing a budget shortfall, City Manager David Richert said. The budget covers the period from July 1 to June 30. City officials forecast higher income from local sales-tax collections and state-shared revenue. The city also would see more from property taxes if the council approves an increase in the rate. "We're coming out the ditch," City Treasurer David Smith said. "We're predicting growth, but slow growth." The city is scheduled to release its proposed budget on April 3. The final budget will be up for adoption in June. In 2011, the council opted not to impose an annual property-tax increase for the current fiscal year. It was the first time in 16 years the city did not impose an annual hike. Cities can increase their primary property-tax levy by 2 percent each year, the maximum the state allows. Smith said the city can impose the increase from the current year, drawing an additional $500,000 the city missed out on. "If you forgo an optional 2 percent increase, you do not lose forever the right to impose it," he said. Combined, the prior increase and an increase for next year's budget would raise an estimated $1 million for the 2012-13 year, according to projections from Smith. At a budget discussion last week, Mayor Jim Lane and several council members showed no appetite for the tax increases. Councilman Bob Littlefield said the city needs to become more efficient before raising taxes. "The idea that we're now going to be able to sell them a $200 million bond issue and a property-tax increase and an increase in sewer rates, I just think that's deluded," Littlefield said, referring to a possible bond election in 2012. "I just think that's not paying attention to what people are saying." In the early financial plan for fiscal 2013, Richert put forward the possibility of pay raises that would cost the city an estimated $3.6 million. With the raises, employee-related costs would jump by nearly $7 million next fiscal year, a 4.4 percent increase from this year. That figure includes higher payments to state retirement funds, health-care costs and the restoration of the city's tuition-reimbursement program. |